The Curry Connection

With the popularity of the ‘curry concept’ increasing all over the world and especially in Britain, British chefs bring a special twist to our age-old curries for the “The Taste of Britain Curry” festival at Park Hyatt.

Food is very closely related to history and every major event in history has had its effect on the cuisine; adding new dishes, transforming a few existing ones and at times giving birth to a new cuisine altogether.

“Britain Curry” that way is around 300 years old, going back to the time when English traders would taste Indian food and take back the recipes with them and twist those by using local ingredients. Today, ‘British Curry’ is not just about a dish, it is a complete meal on its own – a full course encompassing the popular dishes from all corners of India, retaining the same name, yet deliciously different.

Hosted by the Curry Life Magazine, “The Taste of Britain Curry” festival at Park Hyatt started last week and brings together 80 dishes prepared by a team of UK’s best chefs headed by the Michelin Star Chef Dominic Chapman. Their menu is a mix of authentic Indian recipes with a British twist collected from numerous Curry restaurants across Britain.

Britain Curries continue to be inspired by the Indian recipes. And the chefs hope to take away a few recipes to be tried and tested for acceptance back home. And Hyderabadi Haleem is one such dish. In fact popular Hyderabadi dishes like Biryani, Mirchi ka Salan etc, have already made inroads to Britain. The founder of the popular award-winning Indian restaurant ‘Red Fort’ in Soho, London shares, “I had come to Hyderabad in the 90s and took a few chefs from Nizam’s Club and Taj Krishna. They are still with me, serving the best of Hyderabadi cuisine at our restaurant.”

So how do the British serve their curry? As one tasted the extremely popular (that can almost be called the national dish of Britain) British Chicken Tikka Masala at the food festival and expected it to be low on spice, it turned out to be sweet too. British chefs add sugar to make the dish palatable to the English. In fact a few chefs add ripe mango for additional flavour. And the result is the extremely creamy and delicious Chicken Tikka Masala. Then there was the Gosht that is flavoured with the tangy fruit Shatkora, chicken tikka flavoured with Oregano and Salmon flavoured with dhania and the Dal A la Kent, speciality of Chef Abul Monsur from Taj Cuisine at Chatham, Kent, a delectable combination of mixed lentils’ dal tempered with zeera and red chillies in ghee. On the menu are a few original sounding dishes like Bharwan Kashmir Mirch, Murg Bahar and Lamb Achari, while there are few that reflect the British twist - Lamb Rani Chops, Cocktail Paneer Kebab and Chicken Roulade Tamarindwali. There are some interesting preparations like Kabuli Baigon, Parmesan Spicy Potato and Crunchy Lemon Potatoes. Even as the Britain Curries are inspired by Indian recipes, they follow the European principle of cooking – low on spice, high on flavour.

A set menu priced at Rs 1500 plus taxes per person at The Dining Room and a special spread arranged at Tre-Forni Bar & Restaurant for Rs 2200 with specialties by Dominic Chapman and a glass of wine is open for lunch and dinner until June 21.